Written Answers Monday 6 February 2006

Scottish Executive

Alzheimer’s Disease

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is available to people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Lewis Macdonald: Decisions on care and support are matters for clinicians in consultation with the individual and the relevant multi-agency professional staff. Care arrangements should be based on individually assessed needs involving carers and family members as appropriate.

  A range of clinical, organisational and other guidance for agencies, users of services and carers has been published. The most recent guidance from the Scottish Executive was published in November 2004 (Bib. number 37332). The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network will publish updated clinical guidelines on the management of patients with dementia in March.

Antisocial Behaviour

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many copies of the newsletter Standing Up to Antisocial Behaviour: Issue 1a - December 2005 were printed; to what groups they were distributed, and what the cost was of (a) printing and production and (b) distribution.

Hugh Henry: Issue 1a of the newsletter Standing up to Antisocial Behaviour was distributed to named individuals from organisations and groups such as local authorities, the police, the fire service, registered social landlords and education organisations as well as MSPs. All recipients of the newsletter were encouraged to make additional copies of it - or to download a copy from the antisocial behaviour website - and distribute it onward to a wider audience.

  One thousand, two hundred copies of the newsletter were printed. Production and distribution costs were £930 and £1,023 respectively.

Antisocial Behaviour

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the "regular intervals" referred to in the newsletter Standing Up to Antisocial Behaviour: Issue 1a - December 2005 , at which the newsletter is to be published, will be.

Hugh Henry: We intend to produce the newsletter at least quarterly. The newsletter forms one element of our awareness raising campaign about the positive action being taken to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Antisocial Behaviour

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors the website www.standinguptoasbawards.com has had since its creation.

Hugh Henry: The site www.standinguptoasbawards.com has received more than 2,300 visits since being launched in November 2004. This site is a subsection of www.standinguptoasbawards.com which has received more than 15,500 visitors to date.

Antisocial Behaviour

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the website www.standinguptoasbawards.com cost to create and how much it costs to maintain.

Hugh Henry: The site www.standinguptoasbawards.com cost £900 to create and maintain in the period November 2004 to January 2006. The awards site is a sub-site of a larger website, www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com .

Antisocial Behaviour

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has contributed to the Standing Up to Antisocial Behaviour Awards Scheme.

Hugh Henry: To date Scottish Executive expenditure on the Standing Up to Antisocial Behaviour Awards Scheme has been £59,099.

Autism

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in implementing changes based on the findings of the 1996 review of educational provision for children with autistic spectrum disorder.

Robert Brown: The Scottish Office Education and Industry Department commissioned the University of Birmingham to carry out research, between 1995 and 1996, to scope the educational opportunities for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Scotland.

  Interchange No. 46: Educational Provision for Children with Autism in Scotland, which reports the findings of the research, did not contain any specific recommendations for the Scottish Office to take forward. It did, however, contain several points for reflection for policy makers, teachers, parents and other professionals to consider when making decisions relating to the provision of education for children and young people with ASD.

  In the last 10 years there have been significant legislative changes as well as changes in policies and practices in meeting the needs of children and young people with ASD, many of which address the points made in the research. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) is currently conducting a review of educational provision for ASD which is due to report in late summer. The report will highlight current good practice, identify gaps in provision and will make recommendations for the way forward.

Concordats

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of all concordats that it has entered into with Her Majesty’s Government.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19786 on 31 October 2005, which lists current concordats between the Scottish Executive and UK Government. Since that date, one new concordat – on the Inquiries Act - has been agreed with the Department for Constitutional Affairs and a copy has been lodged with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38604).

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Dentistry

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, dental practices are currently eligible for commitment payments in each NHS board area.

Lewis Macdonald: Commitment payments were introduced in 2000 and are paid to individual general dental practitioners and not to practices. The conditions of entitlement for payment of a commitment payment are set down in Determination IX of the Statement of Dental Remuneration. In 2004-05 a total of 1,300 dentists received such a payment per quarter as follows:

  

NHS Board Area
Number of Dentists Receiving Commitment Payments
Number of 
Principal Dentists1


Argyll and Clyde
111
159


Ayrshire and Arran
107
137


Borders
22
28


Dumfries and Galloway
28
36


Fife
93
127


Forth Valley
70
100


Grampian
76
161


Greater Glasgow
295
463


Highland
37
65


Lanarkshire
143
211


Lothian
208
344


Orkney
0
1


Shetland
3
2


Tayside
104
164


Western Isles
3
2


Scotland
1,300
1,900



  Source: Scottish Dental Practice Board Annual Report 2004-05.

  Note: 1. Number of principal dentists (excluding salaried principal dentists) at 31 March 2005.

  A number of principal dentists are on the lists of more than one NHS board area, which results in double counting, and for this reason it is not possible to provide the percentage of dentists currently eligible for commitment payments.

  Commitment payments are different to payments which have been introduced for NHS committed practices. Those dental practices which meet the definition of NHS committed are entitled to certain new payments, e.g. an additional 6% in respect of the general dental practice allowance. These payments are made to the practice. A total of 566 practices are NHS committed which represents 68% of all practices. This figure excludes specialist practices, such as orthodontic practices, as the criteria for determining the NHS commitment of such practices are currently being developed. The number and percentage of practices regarded as NHS committed in each NHS board area are not yet available. I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and will arrange for a copy of my reply to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38797).

Environment

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out a race impact assessment of the action referred to in Choosing Our Future: Scotland’s Sustainable Development Strategy .

Ross Finnie: The potential impacts on race equality of the actions referred to in Choosing Our Future will be assessed as the strategy implementation plan is developed and put into effect. An annual summary assessment will be included in public reports on progress in delivering the strategy.

Equal Opportunities

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage difference has been between the average annual salary of its black and minority ethnic employees and their white colleagues in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The following table shows the percentage of the average salary of staff in Scottish Executive core departments who have self declared themselves as being from an ethnic minority background compared to staff who have declared themselves as white. Self-declaration is the only method of recording this information, therefore the data is necessarily subjective. A figure below 100% indicates that ethnic minority staff have been paid less on average than white staff, whereas a figure above 100% indicates that they have been paid more. The information provided is as at 1 April each year and refers to permanent staff.

  

1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005


94%
88%
94%
93%
93%
101%
97%



  Note: 1. Care should be taken in making year-on-year comparisons of percentages due to the small number of staff in the ethnic minority category.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any breaches of its obligations under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and, if so, what these were.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 is primarily enforced by the Scottish Information Commissioner. The commissioner’s decisions detail where, in the opinion of the commissioner, an authority has failed to comply, and the respect in which the authority has failed to comply, with the general entitlement of access to information, and the steps which the authority must take to comply. Decisions, including those concerning the Executive, are published on the commissioner’s website http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/appealsdecisions/decisions/index.php .

  Records indicate that the Executive has not met the statutory 20-day response time in about 20% of cases.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many exemptions under section 18 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 it has applied to freedom of information requests in each of the last 12 months.

Ms Margaret Curran: Records show that a notice under section 18 of the act has been issued on two occasions, one in May and one in November.

Health

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will instigate a study into the prevalence of haemochromatosis, given the recognition of the condition as a cause for concern.

Lewis Macdonald: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), within the Scottish Executive Health Department, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. It supports research projects of a sufficiently high standard initiated by the research community in Scotland. This role is well known and advertised throughout the healthcare and academic community.

  The CSO has no plans to instigate a study on haemochromatosis, but would be pleased to consider research proposals into its prevalence. These would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

  The National Research Register (NRR), a UK wide research database, records two on-going projects and 10 completed projects on the prevalence of haemochromatosis. Details of these projects are available from the NRR, this can be found at the website www.update-software.com/national/.

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9007 by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 July 2004, what the response has been from NHS boards and local authorities in respect of the implementation and effectiveness of the National Guidance on Managing Head Lice Infection in Children.

Lewis Macdonald: Officials in the Health Department wrote to NHS boards, local authorities, schools, pre-school establishments, school nurse managers and others, in October 2005 to raise awareness of the National Guidance on Managing Head Lice Infection in Children.

  Whilst we did not request a response from NHS boards and local authorities, officials in the Health Department have received encouraging feedback from many schools and pre-school establishments of local awareness activity.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of research projects involving behavioural genetics which have been approved by the National DNA Database Board using DNA profiles or DNA samples collected in Scotland since 1995.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is not aware of any such research projects.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who owns the DNA profiles and DNA samples collected by the police.

Cathy Jamieson: Profiles and the data derived from them have always been considered the property of the police force obtaining the original mouth swabs. One mouth swab is used to develop the personal profile. The DNA extracted from this swab is converted into a numerical sequence and entered onto the database, this data is considered the property of the police. The original swab and the cellular material contained on it are destroyed as part of this process.

  The second swab taken from the suspect is placed in long-term storage and is currently used for purposes such as confirming DNA Intelligence matches. The stored swabs are considered to be the property of the force submitting them.

Justice

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive which companies, in addition to the Police Forensic Science Laboratories in Dundee and Glasgow, now act as suppliers of DNA profiles from DNA samples taken in Scotland to the National DNA Database.

Cathy Jamieson: There are no companies in Scotland which are accredited as suppliers of Police DNA services to the National DNA Database.

Justice

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what DNA profiles have been exported to the National DNA Database from Scotland, broken down by ethnic category.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish DNA Database does not record the ethnic origin of persons arrested or detained and consequently this information is not held.

Justice

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allow the retention of DNA samples taken from an accused person if they are subsequently cleared of any offence.

Cathy Jamieson: The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland raised with the Executive the issue of retaining DNA samples that are taken from persons who are arrested but not subsequently convicted as a potentially valuable tool in solving crimes and catching criminals. The Executive is committed to helping the police in the fight against crime and we take the views of senior police officers very seriously. Ministers consulted widely and are carefully considering all of the implications around this issue.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what practical steps are being taken to ensure the mainstreaming of user and carer involvement in the design, development and delivery of mental health services by NHS boards.

Lewis Macdonald: The response to the Kerr Report, Delivering for Health (Bib. number 37847) is explicit on work underway with all concerned to involve patients, carers and the wider public in the consideration of options for change. This applies for all services, including mental health. The aim is to ensure the interests of patients and carers are both gathered and considered in the design of services.

  The establishment of Community Health Partnerships and their Public Partnership Forums from April this year will provide further opportunities for public influence in the design of services.

  All NHS boards should demonstrate year-on-year improvements in involving the public in service delivery and in individual decisions about personal health care including mental health care. The Scottish Health Council has a central role in holding the NHS to account for its performance in this regard.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources have been allocated to NHS boards to ensure the mainstreaming of user and carer involvement in the design, development and delivery of mental health services.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22659 on 6 February 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  There are no specific funds allocated for this purpose. NHS boards will fund attention to this priority from the record resources available to them.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive against what criteria NHS boards will be required to demonstrate the success of user and carer involvement in the design, development and delivery of mental health services.

Lewis Macdonald: All NHS boards should demonstrate year-on-year improvements in involving the public in service delivery, including mental health care, and in individual decisions about personal health care. The Scottish Health Council has a central role in holding the NHS to account for its performance in this regard.

  The Scottish Health Council is applying the frameworks within Informing, Engaging and Consulting the Public in Developing Health and Community Care Policies and Services (Bib. number 38769) and the National Standards for Community Engagement developed by Communities Scotland (Bib. number 38770) for measuring local progress. Their assessments are informed by Local Advisory Council members who engage with local people and networks.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to address any failure of NHS boards to deliver mainstreaming of user and carer involvement in the design, development and delivery of mental health services.

Lewis Macdonald: We will continue to work with the designated Director for Patient Focus and Public Involvement in each NHS board to ensure appropriate progress with this priority activity.

Ministerial Meetings

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6045 by Mr Andy Kerr on 12 March 2005, which joint ministerial committee meetings it has attended since February 2004; where each joint ministerial committee meeting took place; which ministers attended, and what issues were discussed.

Ms Margaret Curran: There have been no meetings of the full joint ministerial committee (JMC) since 1 February 2004.

  The following table provides a complete list of Scottish Executive ministerial attendance at all joint ministerial sub-committee meetings that have taken place since 1 February 2004.

  

Subject
Date
Venue
Scottish Minister


Europe
3 February 2004
London
Minister for Health and Community Care


Europe
24 February 2004
London
No Scottish Minister was able to participate.Anne McGuire MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland represented Scotland’s interests


Europe
18 March 2004
London
Minister for Justice


Europe
27 April 2004
London
Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care


Europe
27 May 2004
London
Minister for Finance and Public Services


Europe
23 June 2004
London
No Executive Minister was able to participate


Europe
20 July 2004
London
No Executive Minister was able to participate


Europe
14 September 2004
London
Minister for Health and Community Care


Europe
20 October 2004
London
Minister for Parliamentary Business


Europe
29 November 2004
London
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform 


Europe
24 January 2005
London
Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning


Europe
15 March 2005
London
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform


Europe
25 May 2005
London
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform


Europe
14 June 2005
London
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform


Europe
14 September 2005
London
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform


Europe
11 October 2005
London
Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning


Europe
14 November 2005
London
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform


Europe
17 January 2006
London
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform



  The proceedings of joint ministerial committee or sub-committee meetings are published by the UK Government in the form of a communiqué on behalf of all parties. The issues discussed at each meeting are not necessarily disclosed. These can be found at: http://www.dca.gov.uk/constitution/devolution/jmc.htm.

People with Learning Disabilities

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that young people with learning disabilities have access to the same opportunities and choices as any other young person.

Lewis Macdonald: The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 introduces a new framework to ensure that all children and young people with additional support needs, including those with learning disabilities, benefit from education. The act also places new duties on education authorities and appropriate agencies to ensure early planning and preparation and effective exchange of information. This supports children and young people with additional support needs to make a smooth and successful transition to post-school life.

  Our widening access policy is helping to break down barriers to participation in further education faced by all groups including students with learning disabilities. Further education colleges receive additional funding in respect of students who either require to attend a special programme or who require additional support to undertake a mainstream course.

  The forthcoming Children’s Report, from The same as you? implementation group, aims to raise awareness that it is the responsibility of every organisation and individual involved in service provision to give children and young people the opportunity to access mainstream services.

Police

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have been employed by each police force in each of the last three years, expressed on a per capita basis and showing year-on-year percentage changes and national totals.

Cathy Jamieson: The information is shown in the following tables.

  Number of Police Officers (Whole-Time Equivalent) Per 1,000 Population

  

Force
2003
2004
2005


Central Scotland Police
2.61
2.71
2.95


Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
3.25
3.32
3.25


Fife Constabulary
2.64
2.78
2.81


Grampian Police
2.42
2.56
2.62


Lothian and Borders Police
3.02
3.09
3.13


Northern Constabulary
2.50
2.47
2.52


Strathclyde Police
3.37
3.37
3.48


Tayside Police
3.00
2.99
3.01


Total
3.04
3.08
3.15



  Year-on-Year Percentage Change

  

Force
2003
2004
2005


Central Scotland Police
+2.35%
+3.83%
+8.86%


Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
+0.93%
+2.15%
-2.11%


Fife Constabulary
+1.93%
+5.30%
+1.08%


Grampian Police
+2.54%
+5.79%
+2.34%


Lothian and Borders Police
+0.33%
+2.32%
+1.29%


Northern Constabulary
+1.63%
-1.20%
+2.02%


Strathclyde Police
+2.12%
0.00%
+3.26%


Tayside Police
+0.33%
-0.33%
+0.67%


Scotland
+1.67%
+1.32%
+2.27%



  Notes:

  Police Officer Numbers (whole-time equivalent) from Quarterly Strength Returns from forces.

  Population figures are mid-year estimate.

Police

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of serving police officers have voluntarily provided DNA samples for DNA profiles to be held in the Police Elimination Database.

Cathy Jamieson: As at 31 January 2006, there are a total of 1,574 personnel currently listed on the Scottish Police Elimination Database. 1,458 of these are police officers which is approximately 9% of serving police officers.

  The majority of these are thought to have provided their DNA sample voluntarily but precise figures are not available. The Police Elimination Database does not distinguish between samples from volunteers and samples from new recruits, who may be required to provide a sample for elimination purposes.

Recycling

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the materials collected in Scotland for recycling is exported for processing.

Ross Finnie: We do not hold this information centrally. However, we sponsor two bodies to help develop markets for recycled products: REMADE Scotland and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). REMADE Scotland, working with WRAP, are preparing a report on Markets for Recyclable Materials and Recycled Products in Scotland. This will provide some information on the capacity to reprocess recyclable materials in Scotland and on exports of some materials from the United Kingdom and I will arrange for a copy to be forwarded to you once this has been finalised.

  However, obtaining full information on the proportion of the materials collected in Scotland for recycling which are then exported is difficult. There is a wide range of materials involved and materials are collected for recycling from commercial and industrial premises as well as from households. In addition, materials that have been collected may be transported from Scotland to other parts of the United Kingdom and may then be reprocessed in other parts of the UK or may be exported from other parts of the UK.

Recycling

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the sorting under co-mingled recycling schemes takes place in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: Information held by the Scottish Waste Awareness Group indicates that of the 13 local authorities operating co-mingled recycling schemes, 12 of these local authorities are arranging for the materials to be sorted in Scotland.